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Fabric article treating apparatus with safety device and controllerFabric article treating apparatus with safety device and controller description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070094888, Fabric article treating apparatus with safety device and controller. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/697,735, filed Oct. 29, 2003; which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10/418,595, filed Apr. 17, 2003; which claims the benefit of U. S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/374,601, filed Apr. 22, 2002; and U. S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/426,438, filed Nov. 14, 2002. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to fabric article drying appliances (a non-limiting example of which includes clothes drying equipment) and is directed to an apparatus of the type which dispenses a "benefit composition" through a nozzle that directs the benefit composition as droplets or particles into a chamber (e.g., a moving or stationery drum) of the fabric article drying appliance. The invention is additionally disclosed as a system that sprays droplets or particles that provide benefits to the fabric articles within the fabric article drying appliance, in which the system includes one or more safety features, and/or the system includes beneficial control concepts that enhance the effects of the benefit composition being dispensed through the nozzle. An optional door or lid "open" detector is provided, which can cause the benefit composition to stop spraying, and also can disconnect electrical power to a high voltage power supply that may be included when the system uses electrostatic spray droplets. An optional motion detector is provided, which in embodiments utilizing a dryer can determine whether the movable drum of the dryer is actually in motion, and thus can prevent the benefit composition from being sprayed merely by (perhaps inadvertently) pressing a start, or ON-OFF button. Another optional feature is a split-spray cycle, in which a first spraying event starts and ends, followed by some elapsed time during which no benefit composition is dispensed, then followed by at least a second spraying event. Such a second (or a third) spraying event can be controlled to "wait" for a predetermined condition, if desired, such as a threshold of relative humidity in the fabric article drying appliance, a threshold of temperature within the fabric article drying appliance, the cool-down cycle of the fabric article drying appliance, etc. The second (or further) spraying event can run at a different charging voltage for the electrostatic spray, if desired, or it can add a perfume or other beneficial compound into the interior of the fabric article drying appliance. The invention can be provided as a stand-alone (or "discrete") unit that may attach to the inner and/or outer surface(s) of a closure structure (e.g., a door, a lid, a hatch, or the like) of the fabric article drying appliance and/or household surfaces (e.g. a wall or a countertop), which operates without any interplay with the fabric article drying appliance normal control system. The invention can also be provided as part of an integrated drying apparatus control system, in which the features of the present invention are fully incorporated into the remaining portions of the controller for the drying apparatus, or perhaps the invention can be provided as a partially-integrated control system, in which the conventional or "standard" dryer apparatus control system has an interface cable or connector that communicates with the control device of the present invention. The control system of the present invention includes an optional feature that can vary the power provided to a pump or motor, as the battery voltage begins to fail in the stand-alone unit, to compensate for lower voltage. The control system of the present invention may also include an optional feature that can vary the charging voltage applied to the electrostatic sprayer, as the battery voltage begins to fail in the stand-alone unit, to compensate for lower voltage. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Fabric article drying appliances such as clothes dryers have been around for decades. Methods for treating fabric articles within such dryers are also known in the patent art, although these methods have been developed more recently. One conventional automatic clothes dryer that incorporates a spray dispenser which dispenses liquids into the drum of the dryer is purportedly described in U. S. Pat. No. 4,207,683. [0004] While the patent art includes spraying devices for use in clothes dryers, these have generally been controlled by an integral controller that also controls the entire dryer. Such units can be advantageously configured with novel control concepts, and also by use of input signals provided by certain types of sensors that have not been used in the past. As such, it would be advantageous to provide a stand-alone spraying device that can be mounted to a closure structure of a fabric article drying appliance such as a dryer, and which could include certain safety features, such as a door sensor or a motion sensor, and which could include certain operational features, such as providing a split spraying cycle, or controlling a pump to operate at a substantially constant output volume when the battery voltage begins to fail, or by varying the voltage of an electrostatic nozzle for different spraying events. Such features also would generally be available in a fabric article drying appliance control system that is integrated as a single control circuit. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0005] In one embodiment of the present invention, a stand-alone (or discrete) dispensing apparatus with a control unit is presented, in which a dispensing nozzle is mounted to the interior of a clothes dryer, while the control unit is mounted in an exterior relationship to the dryer. The control unit may be mounted to any external surface of the fabric article drying appliance, non-limiting examples of which include: the door or a lid or hatch, the side wall, the top wall, or combinations thereof. Furthermore, the dispensing nozzle is in communication with the interior of the fabric article drying appliance, and may be mounted on any interior surface of the fabric article drying appliance, non-limiting examples of which include: the door or a lid or hatch, the drum, the back wall of the interior chamber, mounted through the door, and the like. The discrete dispensing apparatus of the present invention could, optionally, be mounted as a single unit within the fabric article drying appliance within a single housing or enclosure. Moreover, the dispensing apparatus of the present invention could, optionally, be integrated into the controller of the fabric article drying appliance (for example, a clothes dryer) itself, or it could be partially integrated with the dryer's controller in a manner such that it is connected to the dryer's controller through an electrical connector or via a communications port. [0006] It is another advantage of the present invention to provide a spraying apparatus for use in fabric article drying appliances that exhibit certain safety features, such as an additional door sensor that can terminate operation of the sprayer when the door has been opened, and also a motion sensor that can detect if a drum of a dryer is actually moving before allowing a nozzle to dispense the benefit composition of interest. [0007] It is a further advantage of the present invention to provide a controller that operates with a fabric article drying appliance in which enhanced methodologies allow for a split spraying interval, or by varying the voltage of an electrostatic nozzle, or for effectively increasing the life of the batteries of a stand-alone unit by increasing the output of a pump as the battery voltage begins to fail. [0008] Additional advantages and other novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned with the practice of the invention. [0009] To achieve the foregoing and other advantages, and in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a fabric article treating system used in a fabric article drying appliance is provided, which comprises: a fabric article drying appliance having a chamber and a closure structure, the closure structure having a closed position and at least one open position, the closure structure allowing access to the chamber; a source of benefit composition; a nozzle in communication with the chamber; a dispensing apparatus that compels benefit composition from the source of benefit composition toward the nozzle, thereby spraying the benefit composition into the chamber; a closure structure sensor; and a control circuit that initiates spraying of the benefit composition, wherein the control circuit prevents the benefit composition from being sprayed when the closure structure sensor indicates that the closure structure is not in the closed position. [0010] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a fabric article treating system used in a fabric article drying appliance is provided, which comprises: a fabric article drying appliance having a movable chamber and a closure structure, the closure structure having a closed position and at least one open position, the closure structure allowing access to the movable chamber, the movable chamber being placed into motion during operation; a source of benefit composition; a nozzle in communication with the movable chamber; a dispensing apparatus that compels benefit composition from the source of benefit composition to the nozzle, thereby spraying the benefit composition into the movable chamber; a motion sensor; and a control circuit that initiates spraying of the benefit composition, wherein the control circuit prevents the benefit composition from being sprayed when the motion sensor indicates that the movable chamber is not in motion. [0011] In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a fabric article treating system used in a fabric article drying appliance is provided, which comprises: a fabric article drying appliance having a chamber and a closure structure, the closure structure having a closed position and at least one open position, the closure structure allowing access to the chamber; a source of benefit composition; a nozzle in communication with the chamber; a dispensing apparatus that compels benefit composition from the source of benefit composition toward the nozzle, thereby spraying the benefit composition into the chamber; and a control circuit that is configured: (a) to spray the benefit composition through the nozzle upon commencement of a spraying event; and (b) to initiate a first spraying interval of the spraying event and a second spraying interval of the spraying event, such that the first spraying interval and the second spraying interval are separated in time. [0012] In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, a fabric article treating system used in a fabric article drying appliance is provided, which comprises: a fabric article drying appliance having a chamber and a closure structure, the closure structure having a closed position and at least one open position, the closure structure allowing access to the chamber; a benefit composition reservoir; a nozzle in communication with the chamber; a pump apparatus that compels benefit composition from the benefit composition reservoir toward the nozzle, thereby spraying the benefit composition into the chamber; an electric motor that actuates the pump apparatus; a battery; a voltage sensing circuit that determines an output voltage produced by the battery; and a control circuit that is configured: (a) to spray the benefit composition through the nozzle upon commencement of a spraying event; (b) to generate a pulse-width modulated variable output signal that controls the electric motor; and (c) to increase a duty cycle of the pulse-width modulated variable output signal as the battery-produced output voltage decreases, thereby causing the pump apparatus to provide a substantially constant volume of the benefit composition to the nozzle even though the battery has become partially discharged such that it cannot maintain its rated output voltage. [0013] In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a fabric article treating apparatus is provided, which comprises: a source of benefit composition; a nozzle in communication with the source of benefit composition; a dispensing apparatus that compels the benefit composition from the source of benefit composition toward the nozzle, thereby spraying the benefit composition; at least one safety sensor; and a control circuit that initiates spraying of the benefit composition, wherein the control circuit prevents the benefit composition from being sprayed when the at least one safety sensor indicates that a predetermined condition exists. [0014] Still other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in this art from the following description and drawings wherein there is described and shown a preferred embodiment of this invention in one of the best modes contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modification in various, obvious aspects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0015] The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention, and together with the description and claims serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings: [0016] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment for a stand-alone fabric article treating apparatus that is constructed according to the principles of the present invention. [0017] FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the opposite angle of the fabric article treating apparatus of FIG. 1. [0018] FIG. 3 is an elevational view from one end in partial cross-section of the fabric article treating apparatus of FIG. 1, illustrating the internal housing and external housing, as joined together by a flat cable. [0019] FIG. 4 is an elevational view from one side in partial cross-section of the internal housing portion of the fabric article treating apparatus of FIG. 1. Continue reading about Fabric article treating apparatus with safety device and controller... Full patent description for Fabric article treating apparatus with safety device and controller Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Fabric article treating apparatus with safety device and controller patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. 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